


Alexandre Lionett

by Awesome_Sauce432



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alexandre Lionett is The Number One Beau Stan, And She's A Super Cool Criminal Mystery Person, Beau's Brother Slowly Figures Out He's Got A Sister, Beau's Brother Slowly Figures Out His Sister Had A Terrible Childhood And It's His Parent's Fault, Beauregard's Parents Are Shit, Family Secrets, Gen, In This Household We Love And Appreciate Beauregard Lionett, Kidnapping, Playing Fast And Loose With Timelines Here Lmao, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-08 08:17:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17382992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesome_Sauce432/pseuds/Awesome_Sauce432
Summary: Alexandre Lionett is four years and eight months and he doesn't have a sister.What he does have is a big house, two parents, strange hiding places and a name that he's not supposed to know or talk about. Which only makes him want to know and talk about it more.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> come scream at me on tumblr at @idonthaveanyurlideas

Alexandre Lionett is four years and eight months old when one of his friends gets a baby sister. His friend brags about it to Alexandre and the other boys in their small group of well-to-do children in Kamordah around the same age, telling them her name (Clementine) and what she looks like (blonde hair, green eyes, just like her mother). 

 

The other boys talk about their siblings, how many they have, how old they are, which ones are the meanest and which ones are the nicest. Alexandre is the only one who doesn’t have any at all. Not older or younger, a sister or a brother. He and his friends quickly move on to more interesting conversations and games, but that night the thought of a sister pops into his head again. 

 

“Mama, can I get a sister?” He asks. It only seems fair, so many of his friends have one. 

 

Apparently, it isn’t fair though, because Mama’s face pinches up in the way it does when Alexandre says something he shouldn’t, and Papa gives him the look he does when he ruins a new pair of shorts by tripping in the mud. Even the servants who brought them their food seemed surprised, all looking towards Mama and Papa to see how they would react. 

 

Neither of the faces last for very long.

 

“You don’t need a sister, Alex.” Papa says, his voice smooth. “We cannot simply go get one anyway.”

 

“Why not?” 

 

That night Mama gives Alex a very strange talk about how babies take a lot of work, and can’t simply be picked up from a store or ordered from Tal’Dorei like lots of things can. Alex doesn’t really get it, but he does understand that his parents don’t like to talk about little sisters or brothers. So Alex forgets about it, deciding that not having a sister or brother is nicer anyway, because it means there’s no one he has to share Mama’s hugs with. 

 

* * *

 

 

Alexandre Lionett is five years and two months old when he finds a small hidey-hole, carved out in the wall behind an old cabinet that he could barely squeeze through. It was a rainy day, a day where his parents forbade him from going outside lest he get wet or cold or sick, and a day that left him with very little to do but explore his home, hoping to find something new.

 

This hidey-hole was definitely something new, and he had only noticed it because the cabinet had been shifted, probably while a maid or someone had been cleaning it, and hadn’t put it back in the exact same place it had been before, not noticing the outline of a tiny door that led to an equally tiny closet.

 

Alex sneezed five times as soon as he went inside, the dust filling his nose and settling on his clothes. The air inside was musty and stale like the door hadn’t been opened for years. 

 

The closet was small, small enough that Alex had to crouch inside, but once he sat down, it was actually quite comfortable. There was an old pillow that looked like it might have once belonged on one of the fancy couches that Alex wasn’t allowed to sit on in one of their living rooms, although it was now very dirty and not fit to be displayed on any couch of any sort. 

 

The second thing that caught his attention was a half-melted candle, which had a small pile of matches, some used and some not, sitting next to it. Alex wasn’t supposed to play with matches, but his curiosity overtook his nanny’s stern warnings about fire safety, and so he lit the candle. It took a few tries (and a few broken matches), but he did it, the candlelight flickering before catching and beginning to burn strong.

 

Alex closed the door to the hidden closet, which left it to be illuminated only by the candlelight. It felt a lot cozier then, and it was lucky Alex wasn’t scared of the dark or small spaces, looking around the rest of the closet. 

 

There were the remnants of someone else having been in here long ago, and Alex had no idea how anybody else could’ve fit. Certainly not Mama or Papa, or any of the servants and workers in the house. There were scraps of paper littered in the closet, and an open book that had half the pages torn out. Alex wasn’t the best reader, but he could see pictures of sewing needles and stitching patterns. Whoever had been here last must not have liked sewing. It definitely wasn’t Mama then. 

 

Alex ran his fingers along the walls of the closet, tapping on the wood and feeling his fingers come away with ridiculous amounts of dust. Then he felt bumps and rough indentations, tiny bits of wood poking up like splinters, and he quickly stopped. He’d gotten splinters before, and he didn’t like them. 

 

He glanced at the part of the wall where he’d felt the splinters, seeing a few letters crudely carved into the wall, with crude lines underneath emphasizing them. Alex squinted, shifting around so as much candlelight hit it as possible. 

 

_ B E A U _

 

“Bee…ayoo?” Alex blinked. That didn’t sound right. 

 

Beau. However it was pronounced, it seemed to make sense that Beau was the name of the person who’d last been in this room. But Alex didn’t know anyone named Beau who it might be. But Mama and Papa had lived in this house forever, so perhaps they did. 

 

Alex left the tiny closet, completely covered in dust and sneezing all the way to Papa’s office. He knocked three times - Papa hated it when he walked in without knocking - and waited until Papa opened the door.

 

He nodded along as Papa admonished him for how dusty he was, promising he would go straight to his nanny to get cleaned up as soon as he was done here. Then he asked if Papa knew a ‘Beeayoo’. 

 

Papa had been confused, so Alex explained that he’d found a name on the wall in a closet, and he wanted to know who it was. Then Papa had gotten very quiet and serious, pulling out a piece of paper and carefully writing out the same letters Alex had seen in the closet.

  
“Was this what you saw?” He asked.

 

“Yes!” Alex said, pointing at the paper. “Beeayoo!”

 

Papa scrunched up the paper and Alex fell silent, not sure what he had done but certain that it was wrong. 

 

“Where did you find this?” 

 

Alex led his father to the secret closet, showing the name. Papa hardly said a word, his face stormy, but he sent Alex to his nanny to get cleaned up without punishing him, which left him confused.

 

That night, Alex dared to ask whether someone named Beau had been here before. Mama’s face got all pinchy and Papa had said no. He didn’t know anyone with that name. No one at all.

 

The next day, Alex was kept very busy on the other side of the house, doing his lessons over and over until he got them perfectly right. 

 

The day after that, he went to the cabinet the secret closet had been behind, but the door was gone, leaving nothing but a blank and painted wall. 

 

* * *

 

 

Alexandre Lionett is five years and eight months old when he is cracking open random books in the library and finds one that has scribbles all over the page, crossing out words and drawing pictures in the margins. 

 

He keeps looking and finds more, all of the defaced books old and dusty and ones that were probably rarely looked at. The perfect ones to draw in if you were hoping to keep your crime undetected for as long as possible. 

 

One of them has a crude stick-figure drawing of a person, someone with spiky hair and arms raised like they were flexing their muscles and a big smile on their face. Underneath was the same name Alex had briefly seen in the hidden closet, one that he only remembered because of how mysterious it was. Beau. 

 

Alex blinked at it as if the name would disappear if he did. He looked around, finding this section of the library deserted. He didn’t want to tell Papa about this. He had a sinking feeling that if he did, the book would disappear just like the hidden closet had, and Alex didn’t want that. He wanted to know more about this mysterious Beau. 

 

He stuffed the book under his shirt and raced back to his room, where he promptly buried the book in the bottom of his chest of toys, where hopefully no one else would ever find it. He would often forget about it, but every now and then he’d remember the strange Beau person and he would dig it out again, flipping through the pages until he found the drawing and the name again. 

 

He looks through more library books and finds more drawings in some of them, finds that some books seem to have pages missing. Finds some that have obviously had pages torn out of them, and then replaced on the shelves like nothing had happened to them. 

 

* * *

 

 

Alexandre Lionett is six years and six months old when he asks one of the servants whether another kid has lived in this house. It only made sense that the mysterious Beau was a kid since they drew in books and could fit in the hidden closet. She coyly responds by saying that Alex’s father had lived in the house since  _ he  _ was a child, and his father before that, and before that, and lots of befores that quickly grew boring. 

 

Alex asked if any of them had been named ‘Beayoo’ and the servant had been confused until Alex spelled it out, and then the servant had become nervous, simply saying that it was nothing he needed to worry about.

 

Of course, it only made Alex more curious. He asked more servants and workers, spelling out the name every time until one of them quietly told him it was pronounced like ‘Bow’. Alex had been excited by this new information until the servant took him aside, looking this way and that.

 

“You shouldn’t be asking about this.” He said, kneeling down to Alex’s height.

  
“Why not?” Alex asked, his face falling. 

 

“It makes your parents upset.” The servant looked distinctly uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that even Alex in all his six-year-old obliviousness could see it. 

 

“But why?” 

 

The servant stared at him for a moment, exasperated. 

 

“Look, just trust me. You can’t ask about Beau, or you’ll get into trouble. She did some… bad things, that upset your parents.” The servant winced as he spoke, not making eye contact with Alex. “So we’re not supposed to talk about her anymore.”

 

Alex was quiet, processing all of this. Mama and Papa did get upset quite easily.

 

“Beau’s a girl?” What was he actually said. 

 

The servant sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Yes. But please, for your sake, stop asking about her. She’s gone now.” 

 

The servant stood up then, looking around again before ruffling Alex’s hair and telling him to do something more fun, like playing or climbing trees. 

 

That night, Papa mentioned that he’d cleaned up Alex’s room, getting rid of some of his old toys and clothes that had been buried away. When Alex returned to his room, he dug around in his chest of toys, all the way to the bottom. The book that had Beau’s drawing in it was gone. When he visits Papa’s office the next day to ask him to play - even if he always said no - he noticed a blackened book spine in the fireplace.

 

* * *

 

 

Alexandre Lionett is six years old and eleven months when he and his friends are playing soldier. They pretend to be the cool and awesome soldiers who are out on the front line fighting Xhorhassians, protecting the Empire. Alex proudly boasts about how the soldiers are sent wine from his family’s very own vineyard, a line parrotted from his mother. 

 

They quickly get sidetracked, all boasting about their own families and their achievements, as the sons of rich people tended to do, which in turn leads to everyone trying to prove why their family is the best, and thus, why the others families are inferior. 

 

It is during that conversation where one of Alex’s friends proclaims that the Lionett’s can’t be the best because they have a criminal in the family. 

 

“No we don’t!” Alex said, determined to defend his family’s honour. “There’s no criminals at all!”

 

“Is so.” His friend, Julius says, arms folded. “My dad said so.”

 

“Oh yeah, what’d he say?” Alex said, determined to fire back with proof that it was false. The Lionett family was proud, that’s what Papa always said. They didn’t have criminals. 

 

“He said that lots and lots of years ago, before I was even born, one of the Lionett’s got arrested because they were stealing wine,” Julius said.

 

“From who?” Alex asked, flabbergasted.

 

“I dunno. The winery.”

 

“We can’t steal wine from ourselves!” Alex said, hands on his hips. “That’s dumb!” 

 

Julius rather predictably took offense to being called dumb, and soon the far more interesting debate was who is dumber than the other, and Alex almost forgets about the supposed criminal in his family. 

 

However, later that day he remembers it, while in the middle of telling his mother about his day. He explains how terribly wrong Julius had been, accusing someone in  _ their  _ family of being a criminal and stealing wine from  _ themselves. _

 

Mama didn’t like that very much. She froze, her face getting all pinchy.

 

“Mama? We don’t have a criminal in the family, do we?” Alex asked. 

 

“No. No we don’t.” Mama said, but her face was still pinchy and suddenly her voice was upset, and that wasn’t good at all.

 

“Well I told Julius that!” Alex said, certain that Mama was sad because of the attempted assassination on his family’s reputation. There was no way it could be true, after all. 

 

“Good.” Mama hissed. “Now, baby, tell me about something else.” 

 

“I  _ told  _ Julius he was so wrong, but he didn’t believe me. So I told him he was dumb, then I said his dad was dumb for telling him lies.” Alex continued. 

 

“Alex.” 

 

“But then Pierre spoke up and said he’d heard his  _ mum  _ talking about a criminal too, but I know he was lying because Pierre makes up stories all the time. Because our family is proud and we don’t steal from ourselves, and if there was a criminal in our family I was would know about it, because I know lots of things.”

 

“Alexandre!” Mama’s voice was suddenly loud. “I told you to stop talking about her!”

 

Silence fell upon them. The gears in Alex’s brain spun, his mind frozen while Mama’s face pinched even more than it had before. She wiped at her eyes, turning away from Alex couldn’t see her. 

 

“Stay here.” She stood up and rushed out of the room, leaving Alex sitting there in stunned silence. 

 

Soon Mama returned, and Papa was with her. He told him, very carefully and very quietly, to never talk about a criminal in the family again. Ever. Alex nodded, more confused than ever. He’d done the right thing, refuting Julius’ lies, right? 

 

It was only late that night that he remembered other things he’d been told never to talk about. Like a girl who probably used to live here, before doing some bad things that made Mama and Papa upset and made her leave. Perhaps bad things like criminal things.

 

Actually, criminal things kinda made her seem even  _more_ cool and mysterious than she already was. 

 

* * *

 

 

Alexandre Lionett is seven years and one month old when his parents go on a business trip and don’t take him with them for once. Papa always locks the door to his office, so he climbs in through the window. 

 

He tears through the office with all the grace and subtly he can manage, which is actually quite a lot for a seven-year-old. He lifts up books and sifts through papers, moving on in a moment if it’s not interesting. A lot of it is boring adult and business stuff that doesn’t interest him in the slightest. 

 

He finds a chest that filled with loose papers and documents and figures that it’s the perfect place to sift through since it’s already a mess so there’s no way Papa will notice if he’s looked in it. The documents also seemed to mostly be business notes, so he amused himself by folding them up into funny shapes. 

 

Then, a crumpled ball of paper in the corner and bottom of the chest caught his eye like it had been thrown in there and promptly forgotten about, and he pulled it out, carefully uncrumpling it and smoothing it out. The handwriting was vaguely familiar, loopy with the kind of cursive that Mama and Papa wrote in, but noticeably rougher and sharper, almost exaggeratedly so. 

 

_ Father, _

 

_ Fuck you. Bring me home so I can punch you in your stupid fucking face. _

 

_ Beau. _

 

Alex took a moment to take in the curse words before he noticed the name at the bottom. Beau. 

 

Beau. 

 

Father. 

 

_ Father _ . 

 

This letter was in Papa’s office. With all of Papa’s documents. Beau had written this letter to Papa. And called him Father. 

 

Suddenly the air seemed cold, and Alex felt like he had stumbled upon a deeply dangerous secret. It was one thing to know Beau existed in the first place. But to know that Papa was her father, that was something else entirely. When every other piece of evidence of her he had found had disappeared, this felt like finding a tiny coin in the middle of a huge field. 

 

Beau was his sister. He had a sister. A criminal sister who had left for some reason but wanted Papa to bring her home so she could punch him. 

 

He had a sister. 

 

Alex stuffed the letter down his shirt, ripping it nearly in two in the process. He dumped all the other documents back in the chest, cleaning up the rest of the office to the best of his ability to erase any trace of him having been there. He climbed back out the window and ran all the way to his room, locking the door behind him. 

 

He didn’t take any chances with this letter. He took one of his oldest toys, one that was nearly falling apart but that he held onto anyway. With a little hesitation, he ripped open a hole in the stuffing, folding up the letter and tucking it inside, shifting it around so that it wasn’t visible from the outside. 

 

When he was finished, he felt like a spy, falling back on his bed, breathless. He had a sister. He had a sister! 

 

One he wasn’t allowed to talk about, and one he had never met, but a sister. That just made her all the more mysterious and cool. He could imagine her now, looking like a slightly shorter and younger version of Mama, but maybe with a cool cloak and criminal clothes rather than dresses. Or spiky hair, like in her drawing. 

 

In a few days, Mama and Papa returned, tired and frazzled and muttering about the war and disturbing reports of kidnappings. Alex knew by now not to say a single thing about Beau, nothing that could refer to her at all. Life returned to normal, but Alex felt like he was caught up in the most exciting mystery of his life. 

 

Just to think, out there somewhere was a super cool mysterious sister named Beau who was maybe a criminal but that couldn’t be all bad, right? Not if Beau was doing it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is less than 12 hours since I found out Beau had a brother and uhhhhhhhhhhhhh HERE WE ARE
> 
> If it seems not good writing it's because it is 1am and I have no self-control yeet.
> 
> Anyway what self-respecting seven year old wouldn't want a super cool secret criminal sister who isn't allowed to be spoken of in his house that he basically had to detective his way into figuring out existed?????
> 
> Also Beau's letter to her father is, I imagine, to be the only letter she ever sent to him from the monastery. Probably about three weeks after she arrived there, after she stopped trying to stab the monks every time they gave her a pencil. Her dad probably crumpled the letter up and threw it away as soon as he got it, where it ended up in his chest of junk and thus escaped the burning and destruction of every other trace of her in the house they could find.
> 
> Also yes there is a chapter 2 who knows when it will be done yeet
> 
> no i certainly didn't name Alexandre that because it's very similar to my own name not at all
> 
> also if i have to create the fic tag for Beauregard's Brother myself i will do it.
> 
> also also i have no idea how long Beau spent in the monastery but i think she's around 22/23 years old, so getting sent off to the monastery at like... 15/16 is plausible. Assuming Alexandre was born like... very soon afterwards. Whatever. This'll probably end up invalidated by canon eventually yeet ;)
> 
> also also also i'm starting a petition to kill beau's parent's who's with me :) :) i cant believe we find out her mum's actually alive and at the same time we find out she's just as much of a piece of shit as her dad like wow


	2. Chapter 2

Alexandre Lionett is seven years and three months old when he climbs to the top of the tallest tree he can find, only to discover a smattering of letters and drawings scratched into the wood. And the name Beau, staring at him in harsh, jagged letters, just like he’d been hoping.

 

Beau’s name was the most obvious and common sign he would find. Usually scratched or carved into the wood in some hard-to-reach place, at the top of a tree where no one but a child can reach, or underneath a bed frame that Alex only finds while he’s playing hide and seek with his nanny.

 

It’s like a strange game of treasure hunt, except there’s no prize and no way to know how many treasures there are. Just Alex exploring his house and wishing he could meet the person who’d carved her name into so many places, so many that even though Mama and Papa seemed to destroy anything of her they could find, they hadn’t found everything.

 

They were tucked away where almost no one could find them, silent, defiant declarations that no matter how much they’d tried, no matter how many workers had been sworn to secrecy, they couldn’t get rid of her completely. It was hard to completely erase the memory of a person from a house they grew up in, especially when that person seemed to have been determined not to be forgotten, even if the memories were bad.

 

He knows by now not to tell anybody about these tiny reminders, all that had managed to survive without being found for so many years. So he keeps them to himself, allowing his imagination to run wild as he imagines a little girl, mostly looking like him but with longer hair and wearing a dress, crawling through the same spaces he does to leave the names that he finds now.

 

He tries to imagine what she could’ve done that might’ve made her leave. Maybe she had stolen wine, like Julius had said. Maybe she’d been caught, and Papa might’ve gotten angry and she might’ve run away to avoid being punished. Or Papa had sent her to the army to be ‘toughened up’, like how sometimes happened to the protagonists in his stories. Alex could imagine either scenario happening.

 

Or maybe she’d been arrested, and sent away to a jail. Perhaps her name was carved into the wall of a jail cell, or a dungeon. Maybe she was in jail right now. He hoped not. He liked to imagine her travelling around like the heroes in his stories, beating up bad guys with magic or swords and saving towns and everything else heroes did, to atone for whatever criminal stuff she’d done to make her leave.

 

It was fun to picture it. He knew Mama and Papa would never let him do anything like that. They didn’t even like him leaving the estate most of the time, and the only times he ever left Kamordah was when he was on a trip with them, and he was kept stuck to their side at all times. His sister was probably able to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.

 

Maybe one day she’d even come back, and then Alex would be able to introduce himself and tell her all about the names and pictures and hiding places he’d found, that she’d left behind. And then Mama and Papa would come and realise how cool she was and they wouldn’t want to pretend she didn’t exist anymore and then Alex would be able to tell everyone he had a sister.

 

A little part of him, the part that always tried to remind him how to behave properly like Mama and Papa told him to, knew it was silly. Beau had been gone for a really, really long time. Maybe she didn’t want to come back. Maybe if she knew she had a little brother, she’d come back, but she probably didn’t know.

 

Still, he could imagine her coming back, and he could imagine all the cool stuff she was doing in the meantime, so that was enough for now.

 

* * *

 

 

Alexandre Lionett is seven years and five months when he tags along with some of the workers to the markets. The workers were going to stock up their kitchen, but Alex was hoping to find something shiny or interesting.

 

He spends some time wandering from stall to stall, one of the workers hovering a few paces behind to keep an eye on him — the only reason he was allowed to go. He doesn’t have a lot of money for himself, but he likes to look at things, and most of the stall owners are happy to talk to him about the things that catch his eye, telling him where they found the stone that they made into a ring or necklace, or how they made it.

 

He never lingers for long, because there’s always something else to look at just in the corner of his eye, even as the worker who was watching him (a nice lady named Jeanine) reminded him every now and then not to wander too far. He wandered anyway.

 

The markets seemed very big to Alex, with lots of people milling around. He didn’t recognise a lot of them, but he figured most of them lived somewhere close. But others were travellers, on a trip through the mountains or simply visiting Kamordah for a taste of all the wonderful things they had there. Perhaps some of them would be headed to Alex’s home to try their wine.

 

When Alex tired of looking at the trinkets and things on tables, he began to find the people just as interesting. There were lots and lots of humans and halflings in Kamordah, but also some gnomes and dwarves and even elves and half-elves. But in the markets today Alex could see people will all different coloured skin like reds and dark browns and blues and greens. Not as many as there were humans and halflings, but some.

 

He found himself staring at one very, very tall person in particular. He was very difficult to miss, his head and shoulders poking up in front of the crowd. His hair was pink and wavy and long, and his ears were floppy and his nose looked a little funny. Alex only realised he’d been staring with his mouth open when the man turned and looked at him.

 

The tall man smiled a little, giving him a wave and Alex quickly shut his mouth because gaping was very rude. But in the same second his mind was spinning because he’d never seen _anyone_ who looked like that, and he was off, ducking past other people in the crowd and ignoring the light gasps and shouts to come back from Jeanine.

 

“Hello!” Alex called out, waving at the tall man, who had turned away. But his ears pricked up and he looked back, not seeming upset at being disturbed.

 

“Hello there.” His voice was deep and smooth, eyes widening a little, and his mouth opened ever so slightly before closing again, like he’d thought of something but decided not to say it.

 

Alex found himself in a similar conundrum. There were so many interesting things about this person that he wanted to ask, but found himself stuck on what to ask first. “Your hair’s really cool.”

 

The tall man’s smile quirked and widened, but only in one corner of his mouth, and Alex found himself matching it. “Why, thank you. Yours is very nice as well.”

 

“You’re really tall.”

 

The man chuckled, bending over a little so he wasn’t quite as tall as he’d been before. “I am. Firbolgs tend to be.”

 

“What’s a firbolg?” Alex asked, with very little regard to whether that question might be sensitive or not.

 

“I’m a firbolg. I suppose there aren’t that many of us around here.” The man hummed, looking around as if to double-check that he was the only firbolg around.

 

“I haven’t seen any. I would remember, I have a very good memory.” Alex said solemnly, dropping his smile for a moment to make sure the man knew he wasn’t making a joke or anything.

 

“Well, I hope I make a good first impression for you.” The man said, straightening up.

 

“You do!” Alex said. “You’ve probably met lots of humans before.” He glanced down at the ground, slightly irritated he couldn’t be a cool first impression of humans for the tall man. The tall firbolg.

 

“Yes, but I haven’t met you before. My name’s Caduceus.” the firbolg held out a hand and Alex shook it. Caduceus’ hand was very big, thin and warm, feeling slightly fuzzy, almost like velvet.

 

“I’m Alex! Are you an adventurer?”

 

“I suppose so, in a way.” Caduceus shrugged loosely, and Alex gasped in amazement.

 

“Have you fought monsters? Are you a spy? Have you been all the way to Marquet? Do you do magic? Have you killed a _dragon?_ ” He was practically bouncing on his feet, eyes alight and tongue moving so quickly that Papa would have chastised him a hundred times by now.

 

But Caduceus just blinked, taking a moment after Alex finished all his questions to think before opening his mouth to answer. Which, of course, was when Jeanine finally arrived, having located him.

 

“Alex! You can’t just run off like that!” She exclaimed, putting a hand on his shoulder like she worried he might speed off again, the other hand over her chest as she caught her breath.

 

“Sorry.” Alex mumbled. “I wanted to say hi.”

 

“I’m so sorry if he bothered you.” Jeanine said, nodding apologetically to Caduceus, though she gave him a double-take, as if she hadn’t noticed exactly what he looked like the first time she’d seen him.

 

Caduceus held up a hand, still smiling. “It’s not a bother at all. We were having a very nice chat.”

 

“He’s a firbolg, Jeanine.” Alex said. “ _And_ an adventurer! Have you ever met a firbolg adventurer?”

 

“No, I haven’t, but we’d best get going now. The others are sure to be done soon, and we need to get you home to your parents.” Jeanine reached down and took Alex’s hand, tugging it lightly but not forcibly pulling him away yet.

 

Alex’s face fell. It felt like he’d only just gotten here, and he’d only just made a new friend! A firbolg adventurer friend named Caduceus, no less!

 

“We wouldn’t want your parents to worry, Alex.” Caduceus said, and Alex stared up at him betrayed. “It was very nice to meet you.”

 

“Maybe you can come see us!” Alex said, the idea bursting into his head and out of his mouth before he could think about it. “We have a winery and you can come do taste tests and buy stuff! For your adventures! It’s very good wine, the best!”

 

Jeanine sighed theatrically, but Caduceus actually seemed interested, so she stayed put for a few more moments, so Alex dutifully told him the address and name of their winery just like Papa had had him memorise, showing off the special pin he had on his clothes that was stamped with the family crest, also the symbol of the winery. A few other people around them were glancing their way, most staring subtly or not-so-subtly at Caduceus, but a few at Alex too, probably because he was talking to Caduceus.

 

“And sometimes I’m there too because I have to learn how to run the winery someday so Papa takes me to help, so you can see me again and tell me all about being an adventurer and firbolgs.” He said, holding his hands up like he was praying. “Will you come?”

 

“It sounds very nice.” Caduceus smiled, and he really did have a very nice smile. “But I’ll have to talk to my friends. I’m not quite sure how long we’ll be staying here, so we might not have time.”

 

“You have more adventurer friends?” Alex was pretty sure his grin couldn’t get any wider.

 

“Alex, we have to go.” Jeanine huffed, beginning to tug him away.

 

“Bye Caduceus!” Alex called out, just managing to see Caduceus wave back to him before Jeanine had pulled him back into the throng of the crowd, and Alex’s own short height turned against him, blocking his view.

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of that day Alex sat in the branches of a low-hanging and sprawling tree close to the entrance of the estate. The road to the winery proper was just to the side of the entrance, and from his perch in the tree he had the perfect view of the road, so he knew he would be able to see Caduceus and all of his cool adventurer friends if they came.

 

When he’d gotten home he’d told Papa all about meeting Caduceus and how he was an adventurer and fought monsters, and how Alex had invited him to come to winery to buy things (and more importantly, tell him more stories, but Alex didn’t say that to Papa) and so Papa wasn’t too upset that he had run off from Jeanine.

 

Alex waited and waited in the tree, climbing up and down and carving his name into the top branch, right underneath a faded and scraggly carving of Beau’s name. He carved circles around both names, and not for the first time wished he could show the real Beau. She would probably be so impressed.

 

But time dragged on, and Caduceus didn’t appear. Perhaps all his friends had decided to visit another winery. Or maybe they’d had to leave Kamordah altogether already. Maybe they just didn’t like wine.

 

Alex was about to give up when he saw a carriage slowly making its way up the path. The sun was edging very close to the tops of the treeline, and Alex couldn’t think of the last time a carriage had arrived at a time like this. Perhaps it was Caduceus and his friends!

 

Jumping down from the tree, Alex jogged up to the edge of the estate. Never go outside the estate alone, his Mama told him. So he stayed carefully at the gate, just one step from the edge. That still counted.

 

A strange man was driving the carriage, and it stopped very close to the gate. There were a few rustling sounds and some heads poked out of the windows, all strangers. Perhaps it wasn’t Caduceus at all.

 

“Excuse me, little boy, hello?” The driver called out, and he sounded confused.

 

“Hello.” Disappointment seeped into his voice, even though he tried to be polite.

 

“Is this the Lionett Winery?” The driver asked. Most of his face was hidden by a very big staff, and what Alex could see seemed dirty.

 

“Uh, yes. Down that road, see?” Alex pointed to the road that led to the winery, along with a sign that clearly stated as much. A few of the people had gotten out of the carriage, all wearing thick, heavy clothes, and all of them rather dirty. The kind of dirty that would make Mama throw a fit if Alex walked into the house like that.

 

“Ah, I see.” The driver said, turning the carriage around without so much as a thank you.

 

“Thank you for your help, young man.” One of the people who had gotten out of the carriage, a halfling man, walked up to him.

 

Almost instinctively, Alex took a step back, still safely within the confines of the estate.

 

The man noticed, his face falling a little. “I’m so sorry, did I scare you? I know we’re all quite dirty, we’ve had a very long day.”

 

Alex fidgeted, not quite making eye contact but feeling guilty. That wasn’t polite at all, and he was supposed to help people who wanted to see the winery.

 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry.” He took a half-step forward to show he wasn’t scared.

 

“No, no, I understand. I just wanted to thank you for your help.” The halfling man glanced around like he was searching for something, before his face lit up. “Would you like to pet our horse? He’s very friendly.”

 

Alex thought for all of half a second before the idea of petting a horse became very appealing. They had some horses in the stable on the estate, but Alex was rarely allowed to pet them. The halfling reached out a hand for him, and after a few moments of debating the fun of petting a horse versus the rule of staying within the estate, he took it.

 

That turned out to be a mistake.

 

* * *

 

 

Alex used to cry a lot when he was little. Like, when he was three and four, not now when he was seven. Seven year olds don’t cry. But he has cried a lot in the past few days.

 

He thinks it’s okay though, because though he usually doesn’t cry anymore, usually he isn’t in a cage and he isn’t being taken away far from home with some other kids who are crying and people who tricked him and are very mean. But he is in that situation now, so crying is okay.

 

It doesn’t feel very nice though.

 

He has already tried to run away once, but that didn’t work out very well and now he has a very bad bruise on the side of his face that hurts when he moves his face, and he doesn’t know what to do and he wishes Mama and Papa would come save him. He wishes that Caduceus and his adventuring friends would come save him. He wishes Beau would come save him.

 

For a few days, no one comes to save him, or the other kids who were with him. Only three of them, not counting him. Two boys and a girl. All of them are kept tied up in the bottom of the carriage almost all the time, pushed up against one another, kicked and shoved by some of the people who had kidnapped them.

 

It was cramped and sweaty and Alex’s legs and arms had gone numb hours and hours ago, and he was wondering whether they could get so numb they would circle back around to him being able to feel them again when the carriage lurched to a stop. Some of the other kids whimpered, and one of the kidnappers flicked them on the head until they stopped.

 

For a few moments there’s silence, until there is suddenly shouting, followed quickly by the sound of fighting. There are thuds and crashes and strange whooshing sounds that Alex isn’t able to identify. The other men in the carriage exchange looks of shock and confusion, getting out of the carriage with weapons drawn. Alex stares at the other kids and they stare back, their eyes wide and fearful.

 

All four of them are frozen, huddling even closer to one another. Alex is on the edge, and the door is open by a crack now, the kidnapper having forgotten to close it properly when he got out. He squints out the crack, catching glimpses of the battle raging outside.

 

He sees people rushing back and forth, too quickly for him to see anything in great detail. He sees glows of blue light, and pink light and purple light and all sorts of lights. Magic. That’s magic!

 

Maybe people _are_ coming to save him!

 

His heart leaping out of his chest, Alex shuffles away from the other kids as quickly as he can. The carriage jolts suddenly and the other kids let out stifled screams, all of them shaking. Alex is shaking too, but not just from fear.

 

He sees a flash of pink and thinks of Caduceus, but as suddenly as the fighting had begun, it ended. There were a few final shouts and crashes, a few yelps of pain, and then nothing but heavy breathing and muffled chatter.

 

Alex had only just managed to shuffle all the way to the door, rendered almost immobile by all the ropes he was tied up in, when it was opened up anyway, and he found himself face to face with a very, very blue tiefling lady. Her hair was short in a bob and she looked slightly breathless, but a huge smile burst onto her face as soon as she saw him.

 

“Hello!” She waved, Alex distantly wondering what kind of accent she had, before leaning backwards on her feet and shouting out to someone else. “I fouunnnnnd them!”

 

If Alex didn’t have cloth tied into his mouth, he was pretty sure it would have dropped open. He’d never seen someone like this before. The tiefling lady turned back to him, her smile dropping to something a little softer, her eyes glancing to the other kids behind Alex.

 

“Don’t worry, you’re all going to be okay now!” She said, untying the gag around Alex’s mouth and pulling it out. “We killed allll the bad guys.”

 

As soon as the gag was out of his mouth, Alex made a few faces, smacking his lips and grimacing at how gross his mouth felt. But as soon as he felt halfway comfortable again (or as comfortable as he could be with ropes still tied all around him) he began to ask questions. He had a lot of them.

 

“Who are you? How’d you find me? Are you with Caduceus? Do you do magic?”

 

The girl blinked, before giggling. “Okay, okay, give me a second.” She patted down her dress, which was very pretty and only slightly blood-splattered. “My name is Jester, we found you using magic and asking some people some very careful questions, yes Caduceus is my very good friend, and yes. I know _lots_ of magic.”

 

She leaned in a little closer at that last sentence, winking and waving her fingers close to Alex’s face like her magic was a great secret that she hadn’t already revealed in her first sentence. Alex grinned, already feeling a million times better.

 

“My name’s Alex,” He said, because it was only polite. “Can you get the ropes off?”

 

“Nott’s doing that. She’s very good with knots.” Jester snickered to herself, before pointing over Alex’s shoulder to where a small green girl was busy cutting through the ropes of the other kids, who were still sniffling but mostly seemed very relieved. “She’s also very, very nice, and she’s got magic too.”

 

“Woah.” Alex’s eyes were wide, and when Nott came over to cut him out of his ropes, he couldn’t help but stare at her, slightly slack-jawed, imagining the kind of magic she could do. Nott seemed slightly uncomfortable, narrowing her eyes at him and seeming to try and get the ropes off as quickly as she could.

 

Once they were off, Jester helped Alex climb out of the carriage, where he could stretch his arms and legs for the first time in what felt like an actual eternity.

 

“Alex,” Caduceus walked up to Alex, a smile on his face. He was wearing very cool and fancy-looking green and pink armour (also slightly blood-splattered. They were all slightly blood-splattered actually) and knelt down. “I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

 

“Did you use magic too?” Alex asked, bouncing on his toes. He had even _more_ questions for Caduceus now. “Did you kill the bad guys? That was so cool!”

 

“Yes. To both of those.” Caduceus’ eyes flicked somewhere above him, but Alex was far more focused on how he’d just been rescued by  _adventurers!_ This was the most exciting thing in his whole entire life!

 

Alex turned around, wanting to meet all of Caduceus’ friends properly. There were Jester and Nott, but there were also others, most of them hanging back or trying to kick dead bodies out of view of Alex and the other kids. It didn’t work, but they tried. Good thing Alex was focused on the more important things.

 

He was so excited, it took him a moment to realise that a lot of Caduceus’ friends were looking at him. But… in a weird way. And when they noticed that he’d noticed them looking, they all seemed to avert their eyes, all towards one of their friends in particular. They tried to be subtle, but apparently subtlety wasn’t one of their strong suits.

 

That friend in particular was wearing a big brown cloak that was very blood-splattered, with a hood that was pulled up, which would have put most of their face in shadows if not for the face that it was very much daylight. As it was, Alex could see that they was probably a girl, with eyes that reminded him a lot of Mama. And a face that reminded him a lot of Papa.

 

The girl was staring at him, but as soon as he looked at her, she suddenly became very interested at a rock on the ground. She was standing a little further behind her friends, still in the circle but noticeably at the edge, turned slightly to the side like she could run at any moment.

 

“Uh, Beau?” One of the other friends, a big tall green man who Alex would normally be very, very interested in, spoke to his friend, his eyes flickering between Alex and… Beau.

 

Beau who had eyes that looked like Mama and a face that looked like Papa and…

 

Beau.

 

_Beau._

 

“You’re Beau?” Alex’s voice was small. He had always imagined meeting his sister to be exciting. A moment filled with hugs and questions and stories and promises that she would definitely want to get to know him because he was her brother and she was his sister and he wanted to get to know her.

 

Caduceus and their other friends looked back at him again, all seeming surprised that he recognised the name.

 

Beau looked like it was very hard for her to look in his direction at all. When she finally spoke, her voice was rough and quiet.

 

“Yeah. Hi.”

 

Tentatively, Alex took a step forward. Beau shifted backwards, ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly. Just a tiny shuffle. But Alex saw it. Her face hardened, still not looking at him at all.

 

Alex stepped back to where he’d been. Around him, the rest of Beau’s friends were doing their best to ignore it while simultaneously not interrupting it. Jester, Nott and a few of the others had bustled around the other kids, who’d been standing silent, almost spellbound by this whole encounter.

 

Beau inhaled sharply, and Alex almost flinched when she turned in his direction, stepping towards him. She didn’t kneel down to his height as Caduceus did, but she wasn’t anywhere near as tall as Caduceus anyway. Instead, she just looked down at him, her hands folded tightly and her whole body seeming stiff.

 

“Duceus said your name is Alex.” She stood almost stock-still like she was actively trying to be a statue.

 

“Mmhmm.” Alex nodded, his voice for once deserting him for a few moments. “Alexandre Lionett.”

 

Beau’s eye twitched and then they both flickered in the direction of some of her other friends, who were all still trying and (mostly) failing to pretend that they weren’t hanging on to every second of this. Then she glanced back down at him, before sticking out a hand.

 

“Beauregard. I bet my… our… parents told you I was a bitch.” She didn’t apologise for her bad language, nor did she seem to feel guilty about it.

 

“They didn’t tell me anything,” Alex shrugged, taking her hand a split second after she’d stuck it out, shaking it like it would disappear if he didn’t. “I had to figure it out all by myself. You’re really cool.”

 

Beau didn’t say anything for a few moments, seeming to process it in her head. Then, the corner of her mouth quirked up in a half-smile. Seeing that, Alex grinned, his hesitation already melting away. He quickly closed what little distance remained between them and threw his arms around her waist, hugging her as tight as she could.

 

She stiffened up even more, and Alex heard a few muffled snickers from some of the others somewhere else. After a few seconds, she relaxed a little, and Alex felt a hand, patting his back awkwardly.

 

She smelled like blood and sweat and flowers and he was dirty and bruised and probably still had tear streaks down his face and it wasn’t at all like how Alex had imagined, but somehow it was so much better because it was actually real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok first of all: thanks so much to everyone who read this!!!! I'm so glad you're all enjoying it <3 <3
> 
> Second of all: The Let's Kill Beau's Parent's petition is doing very well when they show up in canon I'll be sure to present it to Matt so that he knows what the critters want. (: (: (: 
> 
> Third of all: Caduceus got one look at Alexandre and was definitely like 'oh that's a mini-Beau. Cool.' 
> 
> Fourth of all... oops I ain't done yet. Now we've got a chapter three getting ready hfbsjhebsehtbjse
> 
> It won't be done for a while though, because I've got a whole uni assignment to do that I've been procrastinating on by writing fanfic. You all have benefited from my terrible habits but if I actually want to finish this assignment on time I need to actually start it. So I'll probably see all y'all again in like a week after it's due. Hence why I'm posting this at nearly 1am again because I wanted to finish this chapter before I got into Imminent Death Assignment Completion Mode. 
> 
> But I realised I'm not happy with Beau and Alex just meeting up. Nope. They've got some things to sort out. No insta-best friends here (though Alex thinks that's what happening) 
> 
> Yeet. See you soon ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Beau and all of her friends let Alex and the other kids sit in their cart, leaving the carriage and the bodies of the kidnappers behind, but taking the horses that had been attached to it. The cart was big and mostly clean, but what was really cool about it was that it was  _ magic _ . On the outside, it looked like it was filled with barrels and boxes and crates, but really it was all an illusion!

 

Alex and the other kids had spent the whole first hour of the trip poking their heads, hands, and legs out, giggling as they seemed to disappear through the magic. A few of Beau’s friends sat in the cart with them, the pretty blue tiefling named Jester and a quiet human who looked very dirty but had a cat, so Alex didn’t mind him being dirty at all. 

 

Beau didn’t sit in the cart with Alex and the other kids. He heard Jester offer to ride a horse so that Beau could sit in it, but Beau refused, mumbling an excuse that Alex couldn’t quite hear, but that Jester didn’t try to refute. When Jester jumped into the cart, she didn’t mention it, smiling widely and offering to lift them up onto her shoulders so they could look out from the top of the illusion, appearing like their heads were chopped off from the inside. 

 

That  _ was  _ very fun to do, and Jester was very good at finding other fun things. The quiet human — who Jester introduced as Caleb — let them pet his cat named Frumpkin as long as they were careful and didn’t pull, so Alex was very, very careful. He liked cats, and this cat was very soft, purring and slinking around their hands, making them giggle. 

 

Between Jester and the cat, Alex very nearly forgot about his sister who was riding outside. Nearly. He didn’t actually forget because it was impossible to forget because it was his  _ sister _ . It was  _ Beau _ . Beau, who didn’t want to sit in the cart with him. Whenever he was lifted up out of the cart he looked for her, but she was riding all the way at the front next to a green-skinned man who Jester said was named Fjord, and she never looked back. 

 

After a while, Alex let the other kids have a turn on Jester, going and sitting at the back of the cart, next to Caleb. 

 

“Is Beau mad at me?” Alex asked Caleb because Jester was busy trying to lift the other three kids all at once. Caleb had spent most of the trip so far sitting in a corner of the cart, reading a book and keeping a careful eye on his cat. 

 

There was a short pause. “Mad?” Caleb had a funny accent, Alex thought distantly. He wondered if it would be polite to ask where he was from. “Nein, she is not mad. Not at you.”

 

“But she doesn’t want to talk to me,” Alex whispered, feeling like he was telling a bad secret. 

 

There was another pause before Caleb spoke like he was thinking very hard about what to say. “She is not always so good at talking to people. Especially her family.” 

 

Alex thought of how Mama and Papa had tried so hard to not let Alex know Beau even existed. All the hiding places they’d erased, all the things that had mysteriously gone missing. The rumours of criminal acts and the servant who’d said Beau had done bad things that made Mama and Papa upset. 

 

“But…” He didn’t know what else to say. “ _ I  _ want to talk to her.”

 

“Give her time.” Caleb murmured, awkwardly patting his shoulder twice. “She just needs to sort herself out before she talks to you.” 

 

“So… I didn’t do anything wrong?” Alex asked.

 

“Nein.” Caleb shook his head. “ _ You _ have done nothing wrong.”

 

Alex nodded slowly, fiddling with the hem of his shirt and glancing back at Jester, who was trying to balance with one kid on either arm and the other perched on her head, all of them seemingly under the impression that they could fly and thus had no need to hold on. All of them were healthy and happy now that they were free, and all of them were headed back to Kamordah. 

 

Only a few days trip, Jester had said. Three or four at the most. Three or four days until he was back home, with Mama and Papa.

 

“Do… do you think Beau would like to stay home with me?” He asked.

 

Caleb paused again, even longer than he had the other times. “Nein. She would not be happy at your home. Not because of you, but because…”

 

“Of Mama and Papa?” Alex guessed. Caleb didn’t answer, but he slowly nodded. After a few more moments, 

 

Alex leaned back against the walls of the cart. Three or four days until he got home, and Beau would leave again. Only three or four days with his sister until she was gone and perhaps he would never see her again. He had to make the most of it. 

 

* * *

 

 

That night, they set up camp in a little clearing just to the side of the road. Beau and most of her friends gathered some firewood, and Alex helped, following Beau around (at a distance of about five feet, because maybe she still needed time like Caleb said and five feet was a good distance right?) and picking up all the twigs that she passed over. 

 

When they got back, Beau dumped her handful of wood on the slowly building fire, and Alex followed suit with his less-impressive bundle of sticks. Beau went and sat down on a log that someone had dragged out, so Alex sat down next to her. With a small gap between them.

 

He tried very hard not to stare at her, but it was difficult because it was  _ Beau _ . He could see some of the others glance their way every now and then, some of them shooting very pointed glances at Beau, who still seemed very stiff like she had been when she’d introduced herself to Alex.

 

Eventually, everyone else settled around the fire as well, splitting off into smaller groups to chat or mess around. But they left Beau and Alex alone. 

 

After a while, it was too much. Alex  _ had  _ to talk to her. 

 

“Did you rip up a bunch of books?” Was the first question that came to his head, and once he’d started, he couldn’t stop. “Cause sometimes when I looked in a bunch of really old books in the library I’d find some with their pages ripped out.” 

 

He looked at Beau, and she was looking down at him, her lips pulled tight. She didn’t say anything for a few moments, and Alex just waited, hugging his arms across his chest. 

 

“Yeah. Yeah, that was me.” Beau finally said, exhaling and glancing in the direction of the fire. After a few moments, she looked back. “Dad never replaced them?” 

 

“I don’t think he knew a lot of them were ripped,” Alex said. “A bunch of them were  _ really  _ dusty.” 

 

They lapsed into silence for a few moments, Beau seemed to wrestle with something, opening her mouth a couple times before closing it again, before she finally spoke. 

 

“So they didn’t tell you anything about me?”

 

“Nope. I figured out you existed all by myself.” He puffed out his chest a little bit at that, rewarded by a tiny upwards quirk in the corner of Beau’s mouth. “They pretended you weren’t real.”

 

Beau scoffed. “Figures. Couldn’t wait to get rid of me.” 

 

“Even after I found stuff, they tried to hide it. Like, I found this tiny hidden room and it had your name on it, and I told Papa cause I didn’t know what it meant and then the next day when I came back, it was  _ gone _ .” Alex rambled. “But I remembered it! I remembered your name and when I saw it again I knew there was something going on.”

 

“A regular old detective, aren’t you.” Beau’s voice was subdued, and she still couldn’t seem to quite look him in the eye, her gaze glancing over him before flickering away. “Jester and Nott would probably love to hear how you figured it out.”

 

“I didn’t know you were my sister at first, I thought you were just like… a super cool ninja kid or something.” Alex continued. There was so much he wanted to talk about, so much he wanted to say. “But then I snuck into Papa’s office-”

 

“You snuck in?” Beau’s eyes lit up at that, the little upwards quirk in her lips blossoming into almost a full smile. 

 

Alex perked up. “Yeah! I snuck in through the window, cause he locks the door.”

 

“Smart. I just figured out where he hid the spare key.” 

 

“Ooh. I didn’t think of that.” Alex shuffled just a little closer, his voice a little brighter. “Anyway, in there I found a letter from you! You swore at Papa in it and said you wanted to punch him.” 

 

Beau snickered, leaning backwards slightly. “That sounds about right.”

 

“ _ That’s  _ when I figured out you were my sister,” Alex said. “I thought you were totally awesome, and you are!”

 

“Thanks, kid.” Beau smiled, but there was still an underlying tension to it, one that Alex couldn’t understand. She still couldn’t look at him for more than a couple moments. 

 

He paused, shuffling closer again until there was hardly any space between them. “I always wanted a sister. Or a brother. But Mama and Papa said that just me was perfect.” 

 

Beau huffed. “Yeah, Mom and Dad had a pretty solid plan of their perfect family. I wasn’t a part of it.” 

 

“But you’re totally  _ amazing _ . Why wouldn’t they want you?” Alex asked, upset on Beau’s behalf. It just didn’t seem fair. 

 

“How many times do you get in trouble or break the rules?” Beau asked, and Alex hesitated, trying to think.

 

“Um… not a lot. I don’t like it when Mama and Papa are angry.” 

 

Beau nodded, as if that had proven her point. “I made Mom and Dad angry a lot, it was basically my favourite hobby. Couldn’t do it often enough.”

 

“I heard my friend say that he’d heard his dad say that there was a criminal in our family.” Alex said. Beau chuckled, before pointing languidly at herself. 

 

“That’d be me. Turns out the final straw for Dad was breaking an actual law. More than once.”  

 

“Did they send you away?” 

 

Beau nodded, looking away again and not giving any elaboration as to where she was sent.

 

“Only… only for a little while right? And then… something happened to make you stay away?” Alex’s heart sank into his chest, almost certain he already knew the ending to this story. Beau sighed, leaning forwards and resting her elbows on her knees, holding her hands together. 

 

“Our parents…” Every time she said that, her face would twitch slightly, like it almost caused her pain just to say it aloud. “They’d never wanted a daughter, and they definitely didn’t want me. They had the chance, the excuse to get rid of me, and they did. I guess… I guess it makes sense they’d pretend I never existed after that.”

 

The pair of them fell into silence, Beau stiffening up against just as she’d started beginning to relax, and Alex feeling horrified. He’d had bits and pieces of this tale already, but now everything was really starting to come together. He’d assumed that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. A very nice reason why Beau had been gone, a nice reason why Mama and Papa didn’t like to talk about it. 

 

But this wasn’t a very nice reason. They didn’t want her. Mama and Papa didn’t want Beau, and that hardly made sense because Beau was the kind of person who could climb to the tops of all the trees, and would find hiding places in the wall, and would come rescue him from kidnappers. Even if she did some criminal things, she was still family, wasn’t she? Family was important. Family loved each other. But Mama and Papa hadn’t loved Beau. 

 

“That’s not fair.” He finally said. 

 

“Don’t feel sorry for me, kid. I’m glad they did it. I would’ve run away myself eventually if they hadn’t gotten rid of me.” Beau plastered a wry grin on her face and glanced down at him, nudging him lightly in the side with her arm. 

 

Beau didn’t like Mama and Papa either. Alex’s tiny, half-formed hope for his whole family all together again had been thoroughly shattered, and now he felt stuck in the middle. Between his super cool mysterious big sister, and his parents. Who had loved him and cared for him but sent Beau away. 

 

“Well… now I definitely know you exist, so Mama and Papa can’t pretend anymore, right?” He finally asked. 

 

Beau seemed slightly pleased at that idea. “I guess they can’t.” 

 

“And… Caleb said you wouldn’t want to stay home when we get back…” Alex winced as Beau’s face contorted into a look of absolute disgust at that suggestion, but he continued. “But maybe you could send me letters? About all your adventures?” 

 

“Yeah, I am not setting foot in that house again if I can help it.” Beau murmured, before glancing at him again. “Not because of you. You’re fine. It’s our parents.”

 

She hummed to herself for a moment, looking out towards the rest of the campfire. Everyone else was chatting pleasantly, and Jester was currently telling some kind of ghost story to the other three children, who were all hanging off of Caduceus. 

 

“Letters… letters sound nice. Assuming Dad doesn’t destroy them before you get them.” Beau continued. “I doubt he’ll think I’m a very good influence on you.” 

 

“He’ll have to give them to me! Because I’ll know you’re sending them!” Alex announced, pointing a thumb at his chest. “So I’ll know if he hides them from me, and then I’ll get him arrested for stealing my mail!” 

 

Beau chuckled. “Mail theft  _ is  _ a very serious crime.” 

 

“Yeah!” Alex beamed, already completely on board with this new plan and already imagining himself receiving hundreds of letters, all about Beau’s amazing adventures. If she couldn’t hang out with him, it was a worthy replacement. “You can swear and everything in them if you want, I won’t tell.” 

 

“I’ll remember that. But you’d better not go repeating it in front of Mom and Dad.” Beau warned, before a strange look crossed my face. “Ew, that sounded responsible.” 

 

“Did you swear in front of Mama and Papa?” Alex asked, fully intending to start doing it himself if she said yes.

 

Beau looked at him for a few moments, not breaking eye contact. “Uh… no…” 

 

“Is that a lie? It’s bad to lie, you know.” Alex poked her in the leg, feeling a little giddy when he did it and she didn’t seem upset. 

 

“Do  _ not  _ swear in front of our parents.” Beau said, covering her mouth with her hand. “I refuse to be blamed for any bad behaviour you pick up from me.” 

 

“Okay, I’ll say I heard it from Caduceus.” Alex folded his arms, grinning at his excellent loophole.

 

“I don’t even think Caduceus  _ can  _ swear.” Beau said, before raising her voice a little so it could be heard by the rest of the group. “Hey Deuceus, say fuck!”

 

There was a short pause, a few snickers, and a few scandalised gasps from the other kids, all of whom had a healthy respect for the rules of not saying swear words. 

 

Caduceus, sitting across the fire with the other kids still hanging onto him, looked at Alex, who was sitting on the log expectantly. Then he looked at Beau, staring her in the eyes for a few moments. 

 

“Fuck.” He finally said, in the blandest voice possible. 

 

“Well, there you have it.” Beau said, turning to Alex, now sitting sideways on the log. “You learnt to swear from Caduceus, not me.” 

 

Alex’s face lit up. Now he could swear  _ all  _ the time. 

 

* * *

 

 

The trip back to Kamordah was pretty quiet, which was good, because it gave Alex lots and lots of time to talk with Beau. He told her about every single sign of her he’d managed to find at home, or all the ones he could remember. He told her about the time he’d tried to find a secret hiding place of his own, one that Beau  _ hadn’t  _ managed to carve her name into at some point, but it had been impossible.

 

Beau seemed quite pleased about that. She’d spent a lot of her childhood finding places she could get away from their parents, she said, even if it was just for a little while. 

 

In return, Beau told him all about her adventures. Or the mostly-kid-friendly version of them. She told him all about how they’d become pirates, sailing off from Nicodranas after setting a boat on fire and how they’d underwater temples and snake people and set  _ another  _ boat on fire and gotten arrested like fifty times and all sorts of incredible things that Alex had only heard about in stories. 

 

It was so much more amazing than anything he’d ever imagined. Beau seemed to enjoy telling him the stories too, especially when he demanded to know exactly what  _ she’d  _ been doing in all of them. Fjord summoning a demon was awesome, but hearing about how Beau stood up to a pirate king all by herself? That was even better.

 

His sister, standing up to a pirate king! He was becoming more and more convinced by the second that his parents had made a terrible mistake in not wanting Beau. 

 

Each night Caleb made a big magic dome thing, but it could only fit nine people when there were eleven of them. Alex and the other three kids got to go into the dome, along with Caleb who had to be in there to do the spell. Beau volunteered to sleep outside on the cart to keep watch with a few of the others, but Alex asked if she could sleep inside with him. Like a sleepover.

 

Beau hesitated a bit, so Alex offered to sit outside the dome with her. 

 

He’d have done it too, because he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, but after he suggested that Beau agreed to come inside, if only to make sure he stayed there. So she laid out her bedroll within the dome each night, and each night Alex would shuffled up next to her as close as her could with the blanket one of the others had lended him. 

 

“You don’t have to be right next to me all the time, you know.” Beau whispered to him, the second night after they’d rescued him. “The others are pretty cool too.”

  
“They’re all super cool.” Alex admitted. Most of the others seemed to enjoy having the kids around, if only because they could show off their spells and weapons and were guaranteed to get squeals of delight. “But  _ you’re  _ my sister, so you’re my favourite.” 

 

“Even if I’ve got nothing to show off but my fists and criminal record?” Beau raised an eyebrow at him, lying sideways on her bedroll to face him. 

 

“Your fists can punch ghosts. They’ve all got magic and stuff but you just punch stuff and you’re realllllly good at it.” Alex said solemnly. It was hard to decide on his favourite story of Beau’s, because they were all so incredible. “And lots of heroes break the law in stories.”

 

Beau smiled lightly, reaching over and ruffling his hair before rolling over onto her back. “I am pretty good at punching things.”

 

“I bet you’re the  _ best _ at punching things.” Alex smiled brightly. Beau snorted, but her smile grew. She didn’t do a lot of big smiles, huge ones like Alex gave her. Instead she seemed to specialise more in half-smiles, smirks and wry grins that gave her more of an amused look rather than pure happiness. But she did regular smiles too sometimes, like now. It was nice. 

 

An idea popped into his head. “Maybe you can teach me to punch things before we get home.”

 

Beau’s head turned to looked at him again, curiosity in her eyes. “You want to be an adventurer too or something?”

 

“Mm, not really.” Alex shrugged. He didn’t think he’d be a very good adventurer. Certainly not as good as his sister. “But I still might need to punch things. Like, if I get kidnapped again I can punch my way out! Because you might be busy fighting dragons in Tal’Dorei or something.” 

 

Beau looked back up at the top of the dome, seeming quite interested in this idea. “We’ll see. Maybe tomorrow.” 

 

“Really?” Alex beamed, his voice a little louder than he’d been intending. Some of the other kids rustled and groaned, rolling over to face away from them. He winced, covering his mouth. “Oops.” 

 

“There won’t be any punching if you don’t let me get some sleep.” Beau murmured good-naturedly. Alex quickly put his other hand over his mouth, flopping down on the makeshift pillow that had been made out of a bundled up cloak for him and trying very hard to go to sleep immediately. 

 

“Sorry Beau.” He whispered, as quietly as he could.

 

There was a short silence, before Beau whispered back. “It’s fine, Alex. Just get some rest.” 

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning they left almost immediately, with no time for Beau to teach him to punch anything. Which was very unfortunate in Alex’s opinion, because punching things was very useful. 

 

However, this time Beau  _ did  _ ride in the cart with him and the other kids, so that made up for it. They stopped for lunch, and as soon as they got out, Alex jumped in front of Beau eagerly. 

 

“Can you teach me to punch now?” He asked.

 

“You’re teaching him to punch?” One of the other boys, a boy named Quentin who was only a year or two older than Alex, asked, eyes widening. The two other kids, Dorian and Darcy, both younger than Alex, immediately looked interested as well. 

 

Beau looked slightly surprised by the sudden attention of the three other kids as well, since up til now they had been quite enraptured by the others. To be fair, Beau hadn’t been trying to entertain them like the others had. 

  
“Uh, yeah, I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders, pulling at the edges of her arm wrappings, tightening them up. 

 

“Can you teach us to punch too?” Dorian bounced on his toes. “I wanna punch bad guys!” 

 

“Yeah!” Darcy cheered, seeming excited just because the others were excited. 

 

“You all want to punch? You don’t wanna go bug Caduceus on how he does magic?” Beau raised one eyebrow, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the rest of her friends, most of whom were watching this interaction with grins on their faces.

 

“Magic is hard.” Quentin frowned, before brightening up and striking a very clumsy fighting pose. “Punching is fun!” 

 

“Awww, Beau’s got a fan club!” Jester called out from where she was sitting next to Caduceus, helping him pour out some tea into a bunch of cups, and coming dangerously close to spilling the whole kettle. 

 

“Have fun.” Fjord smirked from where he leaned against a tree while stretching his arms. “Try not to corrupt the children.” 

 

Beau rolled her eyes, but there was a slight grin on her face as she turned back to Alex and the other kids, all looking up at her expectantly. Her grin widened, and she straightened her posture, clearing her throat.

 

“Alright then. Now, at the Cobalt Soul where I was trained, the first thing they tried to teach me was a whole bunch of breathing exercises.” She began, looking very solemn.

 

Their faces couldn’t fall fast enough, and Jester, who was obviously listening very closely, burst into a fit of giggles from where she was sitting. 

 

After a moment, Beau grinned again, relaxing her posture. “Luckily for you, I don’t like doing things in order. So instead I’ll show you all the fun stretching exercises, then I’ll show you how to flip someone over. That’s more fun than just punching.” 

 

The cheer that the four of them let out at the prospect of learning how to flip people was probably not a very good sign for the chances of them staying uncorrupted, but none of them cared. 

 

Beau led them all in a short series of stretches that included bending to touch their toes, swinging their arms while trying not to fall over, and reaching their arms back as far as they could go. It was fun to try and be as flexible as Beau was, and she seemed to preen at the shock and awe of Alex and the others (but especially Alex) at how long she could stand on one leg — basically forever — and how easily she could do the splits. 

 

After they all tried to copy her with far less grace, she started showing them the  _ really  _ fun stuff, flipping people.

 

“So obviously it’s a lot harder with people bigger than you, but it’s pretty fun.” Beau said. Jester was standing next to her, having volunteered to be a partner (and also to show off how strong she was). “You can flip all your friends back home and win every fight.”

 

“Yeah!” Alex cheered. Julius was gonna go  _ down _ when he got home. 

 

Beau went through the move very slowly with Jester, while the kids paired up and tried to do it with each other, Alex ending up with Quentin. All of them were very enthusiastic and very bad at it, taking quite a few tries and a lot of getting tangled with one another before any of them managed to do it properly. But once one of them did, it didn’t take long for the rest of them, and soon all of them were dirty and grass-stained, giggling like mad. 

 

“Hate to break up the fun, but we better get moving.” Fjord finally said, walking up to them just as Alex managed to flip Quentin almost perfectly, the boy landing with a thud on his back and a goofy grin on his face. 

 

“Aww!” Was the chorus from all the kids. And Jester and Beau. 

 

“Wouldn’t want to keep your parents waiting any longer than they have to.” Caduceus walked up to them, looking mostly at the other kids, who accepted that reasoning, heading towards the cart. Alex glanced up at Beau, whose face tightened at that, folding her arms. Her gaze flickered towards Alex, and her expression softened.

 

“Cad’s right.” Beau said, walking up to him. “You’ve gotta get home at some point.” 

 

“Yeah…” Alex murmured, feeling torn. On one hand, he couldn’t wait to get home. He missed it. On the other hands, he didn’t want Beau to leave. After years of wondering who she was, imagining what she might be like, only a few days of being with her just didn’t feel like enough. 

 

“You did good with your flips, though.” Beau said, perking up a little. “You’re a natural.”

 

“Really?” Alex asked, beginning to trot alongside her towards the cart. 

 

“Really.” Beau nodded, crouching down a little to give him a boost up into the cart, following after a few moments. 

 

They perched on the edges of the cart, Alex holding the side so that he wasn’t bounced off when it started to move again, swinging his legs. 

 

“Did you ever want a brother, while you were little?” He asked, looking up at his big sister. “Before you got kicked out?”

 

Beau didn’t reply at first, her eyebrows knitting together and looking out at the road they left behind them as they began to travel, the both of them not quite within the boundaries of the illusion. 

 

“I’m not sure. Sometimes I did, because then maybe Mom and Dad would leave me alone. Sometimes I didn’t, because I was worried then they wouldn’t have a reason to keep me around anymore.” Her voice was resigned, exhaling slowly once she was finished.

 

Alex felt a pang in his heart. “I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s not your fault.” Beau said quickly. “You didn’t ask to be born.”

 

“But…” Alex hesitated, trying to piece together his thoughts. “But if they decided they could send you away, what if they decide to send me away too?” 

 

“They won’t.” Alex was surprised at how sure she sounded. “They wanted you, they love you, they won’t send you away.” 

 

Alex paused, because distantly he knew that while that may all apply to him, it  _ didn’t  _ apply to Beau, and that was still upsetting. 

 

“I didn’t know Mama and Papa could be so mean.” He murmured.

 

“I didn’t exactly make it easy for them.” 

 

“But still! I...Maybe I could live with you instead!” Alex said, a twinge of desperation in his voice. “Then we wouldn’t have to worry about it every again!”

 

Beau glanced down at him, and she looked… kind of sad. “Alex… you can’t travel with us. The Mighty Nein is no place for a kid. We know, we had one with us for a while and there were so many times she could’ve gotten killed. I’m not going to risk you getting hurt.” 

 

“But…” Alex’s voice trailed off.

 

“You have a home. A future. I thought you said you didn’t want to be an adventurer.” 

 

“Yeah, but it’s unfair! Or, I could make Mama and Papa apologise!” Alex scrunched his nose up. There  _ had  _ to be a way to fix this. A way to fix his family. 

 

Beau’s face scrunched up as well. “You can try, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.” She sighed, running one hand through her hair and leaning backwards with her other hand resting behind her as a support. “You don’t need to worry about me, Alex. I’m good, I’ve got the Nein. I can try and send you letters and everything… but I don’t want you to try and get me and our parents to make up. Sometimes, people just don’t get along. You can’t fix it.” 

 

But this was different. It was family. Everything else Beau had told him about their parents rang in his head, everything their parents had (or rather, hadn’t) said about Beau flickered in his mind. Perhaps… perhaps there was no way to fix it. 

 

“Okay…” He murmured. The last thing he wanted to do was make Beau upset. “But… when we get back home, do you think you can say goodbye?”

 

“Goodbye?” 

 

“You… you said you didn’t want to set foot in our house again. But when you take me back home, can you come in to say goodbye? I can tell Mama and Papa how you saved me.” Alex shuffled along the edge of the cart, until he was practically pressed up against Beau. Her body was all tough and hard, more or less completely muscle. But it was warm, and it was comforting. 

 

There was a long pause, so long that Alex began to think that she wasn’t going to answer at all. But eventually, she did. 

 

“I’ll think about it.” She said. Alex felt her shift her body, and after a few moments her arm resting around his shoulders. 

 

Alex held his breath for a second, before shuffling even closer towards her, leaning into the side-hug. It was nice. He couldn’t help but imagine all the hugs and side-hugs he’d missed out on thanks to Mama and Papa sending Beau away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, starting to write this chapter: okay, THIS time i'll finish the story  
> Me now, having not even gotten back to Kamordah: ... alright then
> 
> In conclusion: turns out i've got a lot more of this story in me than I thought I did. Onwards to Chapter 4 I guess!!! Release Date: probably sometime soon???? 
> 
> Also I finished my assignment yayyyy so now i have more time to work on this yayyyyy
> 
> Also also I've been very emotional about Beau lately (episode 48 really killed me guys i'm still not over it) 
> 
> Also also also: Alex is a precious bean and he just wants his family to be happppppy too bad his parents SUCK 
> 
> Also also also also: Let Alex Say Fuck 2k19
> 
> Also also also also alsooooo: Kids love Beau im sorry i don't make the rules


	4. Chapter 4

On the third day of travelling, they started to really enter the mountain territory that Alex called home. Kamordah was close, and they’d reach it the very next day at the latest, if they didn’t get there by that night. 

 

Alex was excited to be home, he really was. Being kidnapped had been terrifying and horrible, and it had been a long time since he had slept in a nice, soft bed. But every day closer to home meant a day closer to saying goodbye to Beau, and there was still so much he wanted to do and talk about. It was hard to stuff seven years of missed interaction into just a few days. 

 

“Did it take you long to learn Halfling?” Alex asked, sitting in the front of a saddle. Beau was riding a horse again, but this time Alex had asked if he could ride with her, and she’d said yes. So he got to pat a horse  _ and  _ ride it  _ and  _ talk to Beau all at the same time, which was the height of multitasking in his opinion. “Cause Papa says it’s very good to learn if I’m going to take over the winery someday but I’m very bad at it.” 

 

“Eh, you’ll get it with practise,” Beau said, shrugging. “I didn’t really get it until I was like, fourteen.”

 

“Hmm, okay,” Alex mumbled, running his fingers through the hair of the horse's mane. 

 

“Do you even want to take over the winery?” Beau asked after a few moments, incredulous. “You don’t have to, you know.” 

 

“It sounds fun. I can sell stuff and Papa goes to all these cool parties and I want to go to them too, and the vineyards are really fun to run around in and we make lots of money.” Alex said. “And it’s nice and safe. I like listening to all your stories, but they sound kinda scary.”

 

“Fair enough,” Beau said. “It is kinda scary sometimes.”

 

“Super scary? Are you scared all the time?” Alex tilted his head back, looking up at Beau. He could really only see her chin and an awkward angle of her face, but it was enough to see her stiffen up a little.

 

“Not all the time.” She said. “A lot of the time it’s fun, beating people up and winning fights. But sometimes…” Her voice trailed away, and after a few moments, it became clear she wasn’t going to continue. 

 

“Did you ever want to take over the winery?” Alex asked. 

 

Beau scoffed. “Pft, no. The last thing I ever wanted to do with my life was the same thing  _ Dad  _ was doing.”

 

“But can I do it?” 

 

“If you want. As long as you’re not an asshole while you’re doing it.” Beau shrugged, and Alex tilted his head back down to normal, looking straight ahead. 

 

“Okay.” An asshole was a mean person, he knew that. He could run a winery and not be mean, that was easy. He was able to not be mean all the time. “I’ll be really nice then.”

 

Beau grunted something that may have been an agreement, and they lapsed into silence. Alex frowned to himself, trying to think of something else to talk about. There wasn’t much longer before he got home, so he didn’t want to waste a second. 

 

He tried to think about anything else he might want to ask, thinking back on all of her names that he’d found carved into the walls, thinking about the past few days in general.

 

A question popped into his head.

 

“How did you know to come find me?” He asked, looking up again. 

 

“What?” Beau glanced down for a second, meeting his eyes and blinking.

 

“When I got kidnapped. How’d you know to come look for me?” 

 

“Oh.” Beau glanced back up, her shoulders sagging a little. “That… that was mostly Caduceus.” 

 

Alex kept looking up at her, waiting for elaboration. After a few moments, Beau noticeably sighed, before continuing to talk. 

 

“He wanted to go see you. He came back from the markets and told us he’d met a little boy who must’ve been my brother. Jester was thrilled, she’s wanted to meet you ever since she found out I had a brother.” Beau exhaled, letting one hand go of the reins to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Cad said you’d invited him and all his friends to go visit you. He wanted to go, at least to say hi. A lot of the others did too.”

 

“But I waited aaaages for you guys. I mean, I didn’t know  _ you  _ were there, but I waited for Caduceus and I didn’t see him at all.” Alex frowned, leaning backwards into her stomach and pouting. “And I was looking very hard.”

 

“We didn’t go that day. I didn’t want to.” Beau muttered, and Alex felt like his heart was being held in a vice.

 

“You didn’t want to come?” He asked, his voice trembling before he remembered everything else that Beau had said about her old home. “Was it… because of Mama and Papa?”

 

“Yeah. I definitely didn’t want to see them. I didn’t know if I wanted to see you. I didn’t know what you would be like.” 

 

“So… you didn’t come at all?” Alex couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. 

 

“If I’d known you’d be as fun as you are, maybe I would’ve agreed to go. Maybe then you wouldn’t have been kidnapped in the first place.” Beau’s voice took on a bitter edge, and Alex distantly wondered what that might’ve been like. If he’d first met Beau in front of his house rather than on the side of the road. If Mama and Papa might’ve been there.

 

Beau sighed. “But whatever. I didn’t know what to do so everyone else decided to just give it a day. Cad at least wanted to say hi so you didn’t think he hated you or something, so the next day he said he wanted to go visit, and he invited us all to go with if we wanted to. Everyone else said yes so…”

 

“Why did they say yes?” Alex asked.

 

There was a short pause, and Beau leaned down a little, whispering. “Honestly, I think most of them just wanted to meet you and maybe beat up my parents. I haven’t exactly told them a lot of good things about them.” 

 

“Please don’t beat up Mama and Papa,” Alex said, though he had to cover his mouth to stifle a brief giggle. 

 

“I won’t,” Beau said. “Probably.” 

 

“Okay, so did you stay behind?” Alex asked, hoping to hear the end of this story.

 

“Ehh, in a way. We rode up in the cart but I’d decided that I didn’t want to see my parents, I’d just meet you and be done with it. So I could… stop thinking about the uncertainty of it, I guess. I think a part of me hoped you’d be a little brat so then I could leave and never come back. Of course, you had to be adorable.” Beau deadpanned, ruffling his hair a little. Now Alex did giggle, though he quickly covered his mouth as Beau kept talking. “So I waited in the cart while Cad and some of the others walked up to find out if you were around. That’s how they found out you’d gone missing.”

 

“Then what?” 

 

“Well, Jester went with Cad, so of course she immediately promised to go get you back. So they came back and told me, and we all decided to go looking. We asked around, did some magic, found a trail and followed it until we found you.” Beau shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal. “Tah dah.” 

 

“So… Mama and Papa don’t know you were looking for me?” Alex asked. Somehow, in his head he’d almost imagined Mama and Papa hearing that Beau was in town, hearing she was a famous adventurer (okay, maybe not famous, but an adventurer) and just knowing that she could help.

 

Somehow, even after everything he’d heard, a part of him still hoped that they could reconcile. 

 

“No. At least… as far as I know. Cad or one of the others might’ve mentioned I was with them, who knows.” Beau exhaled slowly, and they rode in silence for a few moments. “Either way, I do kind of want to see the looks on their faces when I show up with you.” 

 

Alex could almost feel the light smirk that played her face when she said that.

 

“I’ll tell them how great you are, don’t worry,” Alex promised. “I’ll even say the others didn’t do anything, it was all you.”

 

“Pft, don’t say that.” Beau snickered. “Not in front of the others at least.” 

 

“Okay, I’ll wait til they’re gone.” Alex lowered his voice, glancing around to see where the others were riding around them. Not close enough to overhear, thankfully. “Mama says I’m very good at ‘making my voice be heard’ so I’ll tell them lots of good things.”

 

“Thanks, Alex.” Beau murmured. 

 

* * *

 

 

They finally reached Kamordah in the evening. There had been a minor debate over stopping for the night just outside the town, but the other three kids, so close to home, could barely contain themselves. With nothing like a long-lost older sister holding them back, the entertainment the others had been able to provide had worn thin.

 

So they began to weave their way through the town, going to the houses of the other three kids first.

 

Alex sat in front of Beau’s horse, watching as Dorian, then Quentin, then Darcy were dropped back home one by one. A few of Beau’s friends would go with them to the front door, knocking politely before stepping back as grieving parents opened the door to find their child they’d thought had been lost. 

 

He watched as they were scooped up into hugs, with siblings racing out to join in, jumping up and cheering, ecstatic to see their sibling returned. He watched as Beau’s friends refused offers of reward from the parents, at least the first few times they were asked. Each time, they still came away with a tiny pouch of silver pieces or a basket of pastries as thanks. 

 

Each time, he’d glance up at Beau, who watched each reunion with a hardened face, her hands gripping the reins so tightly her knuckles were almost white. After Quentin was taken inside by his crying family, Alex reached out to take one of Beau’s hands. The skin was calloused, her knuckles hard and marked from years of punching things. But they were warm, and that was what mattered. 

 

Eventually, it was his turn. The Lionett estate was a little further out of the way than the houses of the other three kids, though still fairly close by. A part of Alex was delighted because of course he was. He was going home!

 

But the rest of him was nervous, and that part of him made his stomach feel like it was flipping over and his head like it was pounding with a thousand drums that only he could hear. He’d finally be back with Mama and Papa, but he didn’t think he’d ever be able to see them the same way now. Not after he knew what they’d done to Beau. What if they didn’t see him the same way either?

 

Beau got even stiffer as they got closer, and he supposed that was her way of being nervous too. Her face hardly betrayed any emotion, while Caduceus and the others shot glances their way every now and then, not saying a word when Beau’s horse, with Alex on it, drifted to the middle of the pack rather than the front. 

 

When they got to the front gate, it was unlocked. Waiting for them. There was light coming from inside the house, windows open. Alex thought he could see someone moving in front of them, standing there for a while as they approached before racing off, vanishing into the rest of the house. 

 

They stopped the cart and their horses a fair way before the front door, all climbing off. Beau’s friends all stepped a little closer to them, Caduceus putting a hand on her shoulder, Frumpkin the cat appearing out of nowhere and weaving his way through her legs. 

 

“You…” Alex hesitated, still holding one of Beau’s hands. He felt like he was almost vibrating, nervous and excited energy all balled up inside him waiting to pop out. “You don’t have to come in.”

 

“No.” Beau was staring at the front door, hardly even blinking. “I don’t.” 

 

She didn’t make a move to go back to the cart, and it was her who took the first step forwards towards the door, the rest of them all following in time. 

 

The door opened when they were only about twenty feet away, and there was Mama and Papa, dressed in their night clothes and robes with hopeful looks on their faces, laying their eyes on him and not bothering to look at any of the others. Beau instantly froze to the spot but Alex kept moving for a step, feeling his hand catch behind him as he reached the end of her reach.

 

The buzzing ball of energy in his chest snapped and he broke into a run, his hand slipping from Beau’s as he practically launched himself into Mama’s arms, his mother kneeling down just in time to catch him, already beginning to sob. 

 

“Oh Alex-Alex my baby-” Mama cried, tears running down her cheeks as she held him so tight he thought he might pop, before letting go a little, leaning back to look at him properly, brushing hair out of his face. “Oh, baby are you hurt? Are you alright?” 

 

Papa leaned over and scratched the top of his head, his face softer than Alex could ever remember it being.

 

“I’m okay, I’m okay!” He could feel his own eyes welling up, and for a few moments, his whole world was just him, Mama and Papa.

 

Then he felt Papa’s hand freeze, and the rest of the world suddenly became very obvious. 

 

“Beauregard.” Now Mama froze up too, and Alex rubbed at his eyes, pulling away from his mother’s grasp to turn around and see Papa standing up straight, looking right at Beau. She had taken a few steps forward from where Alex had left her, flanked by the rest of her friends who either looked at Alex with mixed expressions or at his parents with nothing but ice in their eyes. 

 

“Father.” Beau’s voice was tense, her arms folded. “Nice to see you again.”

 

“I was unaware you were…” Papa’s eyes slid over to Caduceus, who merely blinked in response. “Part of this group.” 

 

“I was unaware you’d decided to pretend I didn’t exist.” Beau bit back, before breaking into a smirk. “How did that work out for you?” 

 

“Papa, she helped save me!” Alex said, determined to do his sister justice. “She and all her friends saved me from the kidnappers and healed up all my bruises and brought me back super safe!” 

 

“Alex…” Mama’s voice sounded almost horrified, and she looked between Alex and Beau in disbelief, like her worst nightmare was coming true. Two people who were never supposed to meet. One of whom wasn’t supposed to know there was anyone to meet to begin with.

 

“You said I didn’t have a sister.” Alex looked at Mama, feeling his eyes well up again at the thought. “You said Beau wasn’t anyone at all.” 

 

“We wanted to give you the best chance at success. One that wouldn’t be marred by the bad influence of…” Papa’s voice trailed off, and Beau just glared at him.

 

“Oh, I dare you to finish that sentence. I already know what you think of me, you might as well say it openly.” 

 

“You lied, Papa. Lying’s wrong.” Alex rubbed at his eyes again, trying not to cry. This wasn’t what he’d imagined saying at all. But… he didn’t know what else to say. Beau was angry, he could tell. Papa was angry, Mama was upset. Caduceus and all of Beau’s friends were angry too, standing a back and staying mostly silent but tense and ready to jump in if they had to. Everyone was angry. “Why did you lie?”

 

“It was for your own good, baby,” Mama whispered.

 

“If I hadn’t decided to carve my name into every hiding place I could find, were you ever going to tell him? When he turned eighteen? Twenty? When he got married? When he took over the winery? On your deathbed?” With each question, Beau stormed forward another step, until she was almost toe to toe with Papa. Papa was nearly a full foot taller than her, but it hardly seemed to make a difference, her eyes alight and her hands balled into fists at her side. “You were just totally fine with sending me away and erasing me from the history books forever, weren’t you? Probably burned my name off the family tree, didn’t you?”

 

“Beauregard, this is not a discussion to be having here.” Papa’s voice was strained, frowning deeply. Mama’s face was getting all pinchy, and her grip on Alex released enough for him to slip away, darting up to Beau and grabbing her hand, awkwardly wiping away his tears with his shoulder. 

 

Beau tore her gaze away from Papa for a moment, not looking at Alex but away, at the ground on the other side of her. Her shoulders sagged just a little, some of the tension diffusing away before she looked back, her eyes alight with a far calmer fury. 

 

“Maybe you’re right for once.” She spoke through gritted teeth. “Alex deserves better than that.” 

 

“Papa…” A hundred platitudes were on Alex’s lips, but not a single one of them made it into words. There wasn’t a way for him to fix this. Not a single way. “...She saved me.”

 

Papa’s gaze slid down to him and he stood there, still holding Beau’s hand in his own. Papa’s eyes lingered on that in particular, before he cleared his throat, regaining some of his usual composure. 

 

“Thank you.” He said, staring Beau in the eyes, before glancing at the others still standing behind her warily. “All of you. For bringing Alex home.” 

 

“Well, we don’t like it when kids are stuck far from home.” Fjord waved a hand dismissively while simultaneously making very deliberate eye contact with Papa, though he sounded so genuine it was hard to tell if he was trying to criticise Mama and Papa or not. Either way, they both flinched.

 

Jester, on the other hand, was  _ definitely  _ trying to make a point, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. “Unless, of course, that home has dirty, sleazy, mean  _ assholes  _ for paren-”

 

“It was our pleasure.” Beau interrupted her, plastering on a sickly sweet smile and taking a half-step back so she was no longer almost nose to nose with Papa. “He’s very sweet.”

 

Alex couldn’t help but smile a little at that, and he heard Mama make a sniffling sound behind him, looking up to see her straightened up, still wiping tears from her face and putting a hand on Papa’s shoulder. 

 

“Beauregard… you’ve grown so much.” Her voice wavered like she was trying to force the words out. “I’m… I’m so sorry for the way things ended, for-”

 

“No, you’re not.” Beau said, and she just looked sad, looking at Mama and looping her fingers around Alex’s. Then she snorted, a wry smile on her face.

 

“But hey, it all ended up working out. I’ve been happier in the… what, year? Year and a half since I’ve been with these guys-” She pointed behind her with her free hand. “Than in the seventeen years I spent in this house. Plus, now the cats out of the bag, so you can’t do  _ shit  _ about me now.” 

 

Both Mama and Papa looked scandalised, but Beau continued. Alex’s tiny smile grew wider, just a little. So many swear words he could say now. 

 

“I’m a big sister now, and even if I’d rather jump off a cliff into the Nine Hells than spend a single day in your presence, I’m going to be a good one.” 

 

“She’s gonna write me letters!” Alex said, his smile blossoming into a grin that Beau mirrored.

 

“I’m gonna write him  _ letters _ ,” Beau repeated. “About all the cool shit I do, and you aren’t going to be able to do anything about it because  _ he  _ knows I’m going to write them, you know I’m going to write them, and all the workers who are listening just inside know I’m going to write them too. So if he doesn’t get them, everyone will know who to blame.”

 

Both Mama and Papa’s heads whipped over their shoulders, and Alex could’ve sworn he heard a few muffled gasps from somewhere inside. 

 

“I’m gonna send him birthday presents. I’m going to tell him about every single hiding place where I stored all the crap I stole from you over the years because I sincerely doubt you found all of them since a child was able to find enough evidence to figure out I existed despite your best efforts to convince him otherwise.” Beau’s voice had always been confident, but now it was even more so, and Alex just couldn’t stop smiling. 

 

“I’m going to make sure you take care of him, and if you even  _ think  _ of pulling any of the same shit you pulled with me, my dear friend Jester can do a spell that allows her to talk to any person she’s met no matter where they are in the world. If Alex says you so much as  _ sneeze  _ at him the wrong way, I’m going to haul ass over here and do what I wished I could have done every single day I spent in that fucking monastery you sent me to.” 

 

Beau leaned in close to both parents, her voice growing harsh and dangerous.

 

“Punch your fucking faces in.”

 

She pulled back, triumph flashing in her eyes. Behind her, her friends watched with barely contained glee or utter shock, most of them nodding along in agreement with this plan. 

 

Alex gaped. Beau would come all the way back here? No matter where she was in the world? For him? 

 

“Even if you were fighting a dragon?” He whispered, eyes wider than dinner plates.

 

“Even if I was fighting  _ ten  _ dragons.” Beau’s tone of voice barely changed. 

 

“Alex!” Mama said, sounding almost betrayed. Papa just stood there, his face so contorted with emotions Alex couldn’t even begin to describe, looking like he’d just sucked on five lemons at once. 

 

“Wow.” Alex just stared up at his sister. He was pretty sure none of his friends had a sister who would stop fighting dragons for him. He was pretty sure none of his friends had a sister who would fight dragons to begin with. “You’re so cool.” 

 

“Thanks.” Beau smiled down at him, squeezing his hand. “It’s about time someone else in this family figured it out.” 

 

“I think that’s enough.” Alex had never heard Papa sound so flustered before, but Beau was hardly concerned, sparing barely a glance at him before kneeling down to Alex’s height, pulling him into a tight hug. 

 

“Are you going now?” Alex asked, immediately hugging back with all his strength, fully aware that it would be the last one he’d get from her for a while. 

 

“Yeah. But you’ll hear from me soon.” Beau whispered. 

 

Alex matched her volume. “Can Jester  _ really  _ send messages from all over the world?” 

 

“She sure can. It’s very cool.” 

 

“I’m gonna miss you,” Alex said. “I only just got to meet you.” 

 

Beau snickered, squeezing him extra tight for just a moment before releasing him, shuffling back and ruffling his hair with her hand. “Yeah. I’ll miss you too. I wondered what it would be like to have a brother I actually know.” 

 

“Is it good?” Alex murmured, feeling the nervous gazes of his parents.

 

Beau smiled at him, a little awkwardly but oh so genuine. “Better than I’d imagined.”

 

She stood up then, looking at Mama and Papa one final time before turning and walking the short distance back to Caduceus and the others, who all said their own goodbyes to Alex — along with a few polite goodbyes to Mama and Papa and more than a few thinly veiled insults that only sort of managed to go over Alex’s head. 

 

“Bye Alex.” Beau flashed him one final grin. “I’ll try and send a letter in a few weeks. Chances are something insane will have happened by then.” 

 

Alex’s face lit up, letting Mama take his hand but not letting her pull him inside the house as Beau and the others began to walk back to their cart and horses. 

 

“Bye Beau! Bye Caduceus!” He went through all of the group’s names, before finishing off with one final goodbye to Beau. 

 

He stayed outside, still waving and calling out goodbyes until the cart and horses were long gone down the road, nothing but a distant and muffled chatter and sounds of laughter. Only then did he turn around and walk inside his house. Everything looked the same, but something felt different, something he couldn’t put his finger on. Maybe it was him that was different. 

 

“I can’t believe it.” Mama picked him up, hugging him tightly. “I can’t believe it.” 

 

“All these years… and she…” Papa seemed lost for words, and it almost made Alex dizzy how unlike him that was. “She’s what, running around with a band of travellers? Mercenaries?”

 

“They’re  _ adventurers _ , Papa,” Alex said, before yawning, everything that had happened catching up to him at last. “Beau’s fought a robot. And a dragon. And a hydra!”

 

Mama and Papa stared at him in disbelief, but Alex just nestled his head in the crook of Mama’s neck. 

 

“She’s so cool.” He murmured, his eyes quickly drooping closed. “She told me so many stories…” 

 

“Don’t think about that right now, baby, you need to get some rest,” Mama said, rubbing him on the back. 

 

“Hmm.” Alex yawned again, thinking about all the carvings of Beau’s name that were scattered around the house. Perhaps he could add his name to all of them. He smiled, already imagining it. “I’ve got a sister. The best sister.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IN THIS HOUSE WE LOVE AND APPRECIATE BEAUREGARD LIONETT
> 
> Also the rest of the Nein were one hundred percent ready to throw down at any point during The Confrontation With The Parents, but they were letting Beau handle it. 
> 
> Also yeah I figure this is happening at some point in the future relative to canon. After the Nein's been travelling together for about a year and half lol. 
> 
> Also yes this story is finally done, no fifth chapter sorry. This is already so much longer than I'd originally planned lmao but i love every word of it. 
> 
> Alex is a good bean and I love him. He will also live vicariously through his sister's letters because he's a bit of a wuss and doesn't want to go adventuring himself (exploring all over his own house is one thing, hearing stories about dragon fighting is another, actually fighting a dragon is a third thing that is something that Alex doesn't want to do lmao) 
> 
> He will also get into a lot more mischief now and he deserves it. He's such a precious boy and he deserves HAPPINESS
> 
> Beau's parents are still shit and I hate them and I hope I get to see Beau deck them in canon.
> 
> ANYWAY THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO READ KUDOS AND COMMENTED Y'ALL GIVE ME LIFE


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